Lancaster Council approves 93.3% of planning applications, based on 4,014 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Lancaster sits 5.3 percentage points above the national average.
Enter your postcode for a free, personalised approval pattern report — based on your ward and application type.
Not all applications are treated equally. Extension types, listed building consent, and change of use applications each have very different success rates in Lancaster.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trees | 1,145 | 39 | 1,184 | 96.7% |
| Other | 948 | 96 | 1,044 | 90.8% |
| Full | 841 | 67 | 908 | 92.6% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 317 | 20 | 337 | 94.1% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 295 | 18 | 313 | 94.2% |
| Listed Building | 62 | 1 | 63 | 98.4% |
| Advertisement | 53 | 6 | 59 | 89.8% |
| Prior Approval | 47 | 11 | 58 | 81.0% |
| Change of Use | 37 | 11 | 48 | 77.1% |
A loft conversion in one ward can have a 90% approval rate. In the next ward, 55%. The free check tells you which side you're on — your free property report is emailed in minutes.
Check My PostcodeWard-level data reveals where planning applications are most and least likely to succeed. Officers, local policies, and neighbourhood character all play a role.
| Ward | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Lune Valley | 294 | 26 | 320 | 91.9% |
| Upper Lune Valley | 275 | 21 | 296 | 92.9% |
| Ellel | 216 | 28 | 244 | 88.5% |
| Silverdale | 228 | 14 | 242 | 94.2% |
| Castle | 203 | 11 | 214 | 94.9% |
| Scotforth West | 185 | 11 | 196 | 94.4% |
| Bolton And Slyne | 160 | 8 | 168 | 95.2% |
| John O'Gaunt | 123 | 11 | 134 | 91.8% |
| Kellet Ward 2015 | 110 | 15 | 125 | 88.0% |
| Bulk | 120 | 4 | 124 | 96.8% |
| Torrisholme | 116 | 7 | 123 | 94.3% |
| Warton | 120 | 2 | 122 | 98.4% |
| Overton | 102 | 7 | 109 | 93.6% |
| Westgate | 95 | 11 | 106 | 89.6% |
| Dukes | 99 | 5 | 104 | 95.2% |
| Bare | 96 | 3 | 99 | 97.0% |
| Slyne With Hest | 87 | 9 | 96 | 90.6% |
| Scotforth East | 84 | 10 | 94 | 89.4% |
| Heysham South | 88 | 5 | 93 | 94.6% |
| Poulton | 87 | 6 | 93 | 93.5% |
| Kellet | 87 | 5 | 92 | 94.6% |
| Marsh | 81 | 3 | 84 | 96.4% |
| Bolton Le Sands | 76 | 7 | 83 | 91.6% |
| Heysham Central | 67 | 5 | 72 | 93.1% |
| Carnforth | 54 | 5 | 59 | 91.5% |
Showing top 25 of 42 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How Lancaster’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — down 5.9pp since 2018.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Lancaster council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 26/00258/EIR Lower Lune Valley | Screening request for the erection of machinery/agricultural storage building | Approved |
| 26/00222/EIR Ellel | Screening request for the erection of a steel framed building to create a new si | Approved |
| 26/00176/PLDC Bowerham | Proposed lawful development certificate for the conversion of the existing roof | Approved |
| 26/00168/PLDC Heysham Central | Proposed lawful development certificate for the erection of a single storey side | Approved |
| 26/00169/PLDC Heysham Central | Proposed lawful development certificate for construction of a dormer extension t | Approved |
| 26/00159/NMA Warton | Non material amendment to planning permission 23/00971/VCN to amend the detached | Refused |
| 26/00157/PLDC Ellel | Proposed lawful development certificate for erection of outbuilding for ancillar | Refused |
| 26/00106/FUL Heysham Central | Erection of first floor rear extension above existing ground floor | Approved |
| 26/00143/PLDC Castle | Proposed lawful development certificate for detached outbuilding to rear garden | Approved |
| 26/00107/PLDC Halton-with-Aughton And Kellet | Proposed lawful development certificate for the erection of a shed/summerhouse t | Approved |
Find out what actually gets approved near your address first. Your free property report analyses the 20 nearest decisions to your property, ward-specific refusal patterns, and extension-by-extension approval patterns. Based on Lancaster's 4,014 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Lancaster's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Lancaster's planning statistics — by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Yes. PlanningLens offers a free planning permission check for Lancaster. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 4,014 real decisions from Lancaster council. The full property-specific report is also free and emailed within minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanningLens for a free instant check based on Lancaster's real planning decisions. The free property report goes further: it analyses the 20 nearest comparable decisions to your property, ward-level refusal patterns, and approval rates by application type. Free and emailed within minutes.
Based on 4,014 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Lancaster is 93.3%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 4,014 planning decisions from Lancaster council. 3,745 were approved and 269 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Lancaster is 93.3%, but outcomes depend heavily on your specific ward, the type of extension or development you are proposing, and local planning policy. Use the free PlanningLens postcode check to get a personalised score.